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The Registrar and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) has written to states that if a census officer refuses to do his duty, damages or destroys any census document, he will face up to three years in jail.
In a letter to the Chief Secretaries dated March 17, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said that for the smooth conduct of the census, it is necessary that the enumerators involved in conducting house, flat and population enumeration should be informed about their specific duties under the Census Act. “Along with the duties, penalties under Section 11 of the Census Act, 1948 have also been prescribed,” the letter said.
He added that the census is being conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.
For this purpose, Chief Census Officers, District or other District or Sub-Divisional Census Officers, Collectors, Superintendents and Census Commissioners are drawn from the State Government. About 30,000 enumerators, mostly government school teachers, are assembled to conduct door-to-door enumeration.
The letter states that enumerators must “conduct proper surveys while maintaining a courteous demeanor” during field visits.
She informed that the preparations for the subsequent census 2027 are in an advanced stage and the first phase i.e. house familiarization and house enumeration will be conducted during April to September 2026 for a period of 30 days as announced by individual states and Union Territories. He will have the opportunity to make his own enumeration in the 15-day period just before the start of the first phase. “The period and questionnaire of the second phase i.e. Population Census will be announced in due course,” the letter said. It will be the first digital census, the first to enumerate caste in independent India and the first to provide a self-enumeration option. Caste is expected to be recorded in the second phase.
For self-census, officials were asked to collect “SE IDs” of households and check the data and confirm it with the respondent before accepting or editing the data in the census mobile application.
The letter listed the penalties under Section 11 of the Census Act 1948, making compliance with census obligations legally enforceable. It stated that any enumerator or person required by law to assist who refuses to perform assigned duties, neglects to exercise reasonable care, obstructs enumeration work, asks offensive or inappropriate questions, makes false statements, unlawfully publishes census information or tampers with census documents, is liable to punishment. Such offenses are punishable by a fine of up to ₹1,000 and, in cases involving refusal to comply, false confessions or tampering with documents, imprisonment of up to three years.
Published – 26 March 2026 22:33 IST
